North River vineyard and distillery, a labour of love

Jill Linquist’s vineyard covers just under one acre of land outside her Raging Crow Distillery. - Fram Dinshaw

NORTH RIVER, N.S. —

Jill Linquist gazes out over her vineyard. Happy.
She knows a bumper crop is on the way.
Come October, an army of up to 35 volunteers will swarm Goose Landing Vineyard and pick about 6,000 lbs. of grapes, destined to become some of the best wines in Atlantic Canada.
“It’s a lot of work but there’s a great deal of satisfaction, as well,” said Linquist at her North River headquarters. “Certainly, with the heat this summer, it will be our best season yet.”
Once the grapes are harvested, likely over the first weekend of October, a truck will come up from Benjamin Bridge in the Gaspereau Valley, where and they'' be taken there for fermentation.
Linquist’s grapes are Frontenac Blanc, which are acidic and ideal for sparkling wines. They're also well-suited to Nova Scotia’s cold winters. At Benjamin Bridge, they are used to further enrich their famous hand-crafted Nova 7 wines.
The main Nova 7 grapes are Riesling, Tidal Bay, Cabernet Franc Rose, Sauvignon Blanc, Vero, Borealis and Taurus, but can include additional varieties such as Linquist’s.
She harvests about 700 grapevines across nearly one acre with her partner Al Begin, having moved to North River from Truro 10 years ago.
“It was really a hobby,” said Linquist. “Al and I both had an interest in the wine world and when we moved here we looked specifically for a property with an acreage where we could plant grapes.”
However, protecting the vineyard from predators requires constant vigilance, with starlings being the most dangerous pest, who attack the grapes once they ripen.
Linquist and Begin place nets over their grapes at harvest time and also use glittering "disco balls" and fake hawks or owls, constantly changing their tactics to stay one step ahead of the starlings, who can devour a whole crop in short order.
“You have to use multiple techniques and keep adding deterrents, because they’re very persistent and will eventually figure it out,” said Linquist. “It’s Alfred Hitchcock – the birds, when they inundated the small town.”
However, the birds feasted last year, when the June frost wiped out three-quarters of their crop. Linquist and Begin decided not to cover the surviving grapes with netting as it was not cost-efficient, so the starlings were left to finish what the frost started.
None the less, Goose Landing Vineyard is on the rebound. Its grapes are a resilient crop in the heat and require little water, their deep roots sucking up whatever is needed from the soil.
As their grapes tap into the soil, Linquist and Begin are tapping into an ecosystem of local businesses, through both their vineyard and their Raging Crow Distillery, which they opened Sept. 30 last year.
Their efforts in both distilling and viticulture have earned them a spot on Tourism Nova Scotia’s Good Cheer Trail, as well as a profitable relationship with Benjamin Bridge.
“There is a proud sense of ownership, no question, and a genuine interest to supply the Nova Scotian wine industry by buying local,” said Linquist.

How the Goose Landing Vineyard recovered from frost

Killer frosts in June last year left Nova Scotian farmers reeling, as producers from vineyards to blueberry farms saw their crops wiped out.
The Goose Landing Vineyard was no exception, having lost 75 per cent of its grapes, meaning the 2018 harvest was a write-off.
However, after a late spring during which the grapevines were pruned to aid grape growth, the vineyard finally caught a break with the hot summer and the vines are now flourishing.
Goose Landing’s owner Jill Linquist felt more such hot spells are on the way due to climate change.
“Certainly with the heat this summer, it will be our best season yet,” she said. “We're starting to see some varieties that in the province years ago never would have withstood the climate, but we are starting to see some chardonnays and pinot noirs; but ours is a cold-climate grape.”
The early-October harvest will be Goose Landing’s first since 2017. Linquist says it is an all-volunteer event that will end in a little party for the participants, some of whom will bring their children to experience the harvest first hand.

Raging Crow Distillery

Raging Crow Distillery may no longer be Nova Scotia’s newest, but it still produces the province’s only potato vodka.
Owner Jill Linquist described the brew as “very Polish,” and was the brainchild of business partner Kris Pruski, who was born in Poland.
“It’s a lovely smooth vodka with a little bit of a unique flavour,” said Linquist.
Raging Crow sells its vodkas, bourbons, gins and ryes directly to consumers, as well as to local restaurants.
However, it does not sell to the NSLC, as Linquist says they take too big of a cut for a small business like hers to make a profit.
“I like to be small and local and hands-on,” said Linquist.
Raging Crow is the 10th artisanal distillery to open in Nova Scotia, according to Linquist.